Pestilence
by Cremateme
Summary: Title changed, no longer a oneshot. Au-ish, Mikado centric- Shorts..Erm, preferably shouldn't be read by those who don't know about boss!kado.
1. Patience

**x.x This is kind of OC, but I really, really love Boss!Kado. o3o There aren't enough fans~~~**

It was a solemn lunch hour at Raira Academy, the previous days bitter chill taking its toll on the morale of the youngsters within. One student, however, was taking full advantage of the tranquil atmosphere.

Ryuugamine Mikado sat, lounging by himself on the still damp rooftop that dreary day. His lunch sat in his lap, barely touched-an unmarred apple and some leftover rice from the night before. A can of coffee littered the floor beneath him, drunk to the last drop in the contemplative silence. To him, nothing felt better than moments such as this one.

Moments where he could pretend his heart was just as unscathed as it was before he came to this city. Before he had realized how dark of a nature someone like him could really come to possess, or had possibly possessed all along.

It was maddening, really.

The air was suffocatingly rich, as it whispered all of the happenings of the city through scents and hushed voices drafting from the floors below him. An excitement filled his stomach, butterflies and bats and ghosts, all mixed together, creating a chaos that was beginning to spiral out of control.

The boy wondered -wondered if this is how the cunning informant who had pushed him into this mess, felt on a daily basis.

Not quite human, not quite a god. He watched from a different perch, but that didn't mean he was fit for it.

Mikado figured he was more like the man than he had originally thought. Or, perhaps, maybe Izaya Orihara was more like the Dollars founder? Either way, they were both trapped, forcibly or by their own accord, dancing around this elaborate game of chess that had been concocted.

The board, Ikebukero itself, neither flimsy or indestructible, neither remarkable or forgettable.

The players? Innumerable pawns, brave knights, and sacrificial bishops, rooks, and even the King himself. All meant to lay themselves down, before the Queen, and the Chess master respectively, before a victor could be decided.

Only then would the two left shed their final hesitations.

The Chess master was ruthless, brilliant, and innovative. He never touched the surface of the board himself, only skimmed the surface with the pieces that he placed, so delicately, so thoughtfully. He could wait for the moment, sure that in time it would present itself without his direct order.

The 'Queen' was similar, but perhaps more conniving and a bit less patient. The 'Queen' never let his position slip, though he often disguised itself as a lesser piece, a knight or a pawn, ambling forwards without the slightest hesitation. For the Queen, winning the game was the most important thing, sacrifices be damned.

Differences aside, both the man who held the strings, and the one who maneuvered them, were truly extraordinary. In the end, either could unfold at the hands of the other, the real question was-

Who was who?

"M-Mikado-kun!" Anri had rushed up to the rooftop, explaining to the sympathetic ear of her friend in a quiet voice on why she had been late. Apparently it was another fault of being the shy glasses girl with huge boobs.

"It's fine, Sonohara-san. I haven't been up here long, and anyways, I sort of like it." He gave her an innocent smile, gesturing to a spot beside him, and took a bite out of his apple. 'It's too sweet..' He thought, setting it down with a sigh.

The duo quickly lapsed into silence-both thinking about things similarly dark, neither willing to share their secrets with the other.

And that was fine. _For now._

His smile, hidden from the view of his companion as he looked down at his unappetizing lunch, had slowly transformed, curling up more at the sides and leaving not a trace of warmth in his eyes.

'_All in good time..'_


	2. Sacrifice

**A very short update, because this is too fun to quit. **

* * *

><p>If the people surrounding him were pawns, sheep,<p>

What did that make him?

Perhaps he was just a fool..

Mikado Ryuugamine didn't know the truth of the matter, try as he might to fish it out of himself. Only that he was cornered, and crumpled. Bleeding and desperate and _oh so reckless. _

The walls had already caved in on him.

What to do, What to do...

He heard a voice inside his head, a whispered melodious lilt that he remembered only too well. '_You have no choice but to keep evolving..' _The disembodied devil held no conscious in its' tattered soul, only a drive to urge him towards the depths of hell.

'_Oh, but the road of hell is paved with good intentions.' _The voice snickered, lovingly caressing his hair, a gesture that seemed far too real to exist only in his sickest delusional fantasies.

Would the boy fall for the same trick twice? Or was he convinced that he was pulling the wool over the wolf's hungry eyes?

'_If everything could go back to the days before..' _But it couldn't. The time for regrets was long past.

Now it was time for action.

The man had wanted a war?

Well, _he started it._

* * *

><p>The flame was...<em>mesmerizing.<br>_

'_Yes..' _The cunning informant himself conceded. That was definitely the most accurate way to describe it.

"Checkmate, Taro-kun. I really didn't think you had it in you."

The once looming warehouse ahead of him now sat, a humble frame of what it used to be. Thick black smoke curled out, reminding one of demons crawling out of a holy building, desperate to escape towards the inky night sky. The screaming that had once pierced the air had died down, quite literally, and was now only filled with the occasional shouts of fire-fighters and the shocked whispers of nearby neighbors.

He wouldn't stick around long-The vile stench permeating the air was beginning to get to him.

'_What an interesting development.' _

Too bad that meant he would have to hire new lackeys.

Eh, oh well. It was worth the sacrifice.

* * *

><p>The smile never left either man's face that night.<em><br>_


	3. Twinkle,Twinkle

**If Mikado ever seems OC, let me explain why. My head canon of him is based on a lot of things. The novels, my own perception, fan fiction, and the anime, in order from most to least. So, it's kind of..different, perhaps. I don't want to make this long, but if anyone wants my headcanon Mika-chi better explained, just ask! **

* * *

><p>With an unceremonious inhale of the crisp, mid January air, Mikado Ryuugamine found himself once again sitting alone in a very distant place. The boy decided that silent reflection was in fact a very healthy practice, if not a stroke of genius, when one felt lost and unseemly.<p>

Although, he had to admit, perhaps sitting on the top of a five story building at three AM on a windy night wouldn't seem healthy to most.

Needless to say, the blue eyed, self thought up protagonist wasn't most. Not by a long shot.

Wind whipped through his short cropped hair, down the gap in his jacket, through to his toes and rattling his bones. But the boy didn't mind it, that wasn't what he was here for.

Only this- The barrage of twinkling dots of gas littering the sky haphazardly.

The sky wasn't very dark-Even in the middle of night.

One could accurately describe it as being only a few shades darker than the very eyes he was peering up at it with. But that sky reflected no secrets he hadn't already stirred within himself. What could it tell him he didn't already know?

The boy stood and stretched his hands out towards the heavens, daring the wind to toss him to the streets below. He would fly down to the sidewalk, unaware and uncaring towards the obnoxious inhabitants of a city that always slept with one eye open.

'I wonder if a star exists for every person on Earth. That's why some seem brighter than others, and some twinkle.'

_'I wonder if I could predict the lives of those people, if I stared up this sky long enough. Change them. Change myself..'_

"I wonder which one I am?" Mikado had chosen to speak only that one phrase aloud, calling upon the sky, the stars, the Gods, to answer him.

But then he remembered-

Remembered that although the stars shone brightly, arrogantly, in front of him-most of them were already dead.

For many a wise man had tried to conquer the stars, and could only end in claiming them untouchable.

* * *

><p>The war in Ikebukoro had truly only just begun, but the foolish, idealistic child was already willing to bet his life towards one victor.<p>

But the answer still hid itself in the stars.


	4. Tactics

Mikado Ryuugamine was-by definition, many things.

A sixteen year old, blue eyed boy.

A student at the well known Raira Academy.

A relatively new resident of the city of Ikebukero.

And even, secretly, the last remaining founder of a gang known as 'Dollars'.

However, regardless of whatever definition you might choose to fit for him, the meaning behind it held little significance. Because, if asked to give an answer himself, Mikado Ryuugamine would probably smile and say something innocent and simplistic-

"I'm just me! Mikado Ryuugamine!"

He'd likely add a cute little bow for good measure, his blue eyes twinkling and giving off an impression that would chase away any doubts you have about this seemingly too naive character.

Because that was who he was.

Yet, even after knowing that, you might find some voice in the back of your head still nagging you, asking-

'_But...__Who is he?' _

Because even though it can be said that Mikado Ryuugamine is a simple, naive student, or an ambitious but cowardly leader, it can not be said that those attributes are necessarily _who he was.._

Is saying it that way hard to follow? Perhaps re-wording it would bring about more of a revelation, but perhaps it would be meaningless.

Even if explaining the inconsistencies of a person can bring about some sense of awareness, finding real comprehension can only come about in a more personal, familiar way.

To many people in the city of Ikebukero, the most interesting aspect of the name Mikado Ryuugamine was the name itself.

To the few who know him, the most interesting thing may have be his charmingly innocent nature. The look of adventurous wonder in his eyes. The spark of intrigue.

But to the person himself?

The most interesting thing was not what, or who he was- but what he strove to be.

And that could only be explained by Ryuugamine Mikado himself.

And perhaps that is something even he himself was unsure of.

His heart was riddled with feelings of doubt on who exactly he was, and that evolved to become the character of Ryuugamine Mikado.

Someone without true form. Always morphing into something new.

No one could see him for who he truly was, because he was always hiding.

Smoke and mirrors.

One could call it cowardice, or one could call it a tactics. Tactics?

Well, this was a war, after all.

And he did not intend to lose it.


End file.
